Johor NGO demands that Putrajaya upholds Royal Institution

(MMO) – A Johor-based civil society movement today voiced its concern over Putrajaya’s failure defend the position of the Malay rulers as provided for in the Federal Constitution.

Gerakan Setia Johor (GSJ) chairman Mohamad Salleheen Muhammad said that apart from Putrajaya’s failure to defend the Malay rulers, the public is also concerned over the unfulfilled election manifesto, the welfare of the rakyat and the government’s alleged indifference towards the Malay special rights.

“To make matters worse, the constant blaming of mistakes towards the previous government seems like a cover-up for their own shortcomings in administering the country.

“They are more interested to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and also the Rome Statute that clearly goes against the Federal Constitution,” Mohamad Salleheen said in a statement issued today.

According to him, these concerns were raised by the majority of GSJ’s 10,000 survey participants that was conducted in February.

In light of the concerns, GSJ drafted a memorandum calling for Putrajaya to uphold the position of the Malay rulers and to abide by the Federal Constitution as well as the Johor state constitution.

A memorandum was personally handed over to Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar at Masjid Jamek Chaah in Chaah yesterday after Friday prayers.

Mohamad Salleheen said GSJ believes that Sultan Ibrahim is the best person to receive the memorandum due to his well-known personality of being concerned with Malaysians and also for Johoreans welfare.

“In pledging our loyalty to His Majesty the Sultan of Johor and the Malay rulers, GSJ urge the government to respect the rights of Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim to speak up for the well-being, peace and security of Johoreans.

“The people of Johor will stand and defend our sultan, the crown prince, and the other Malay rulers if they were to be humiliated and condemned for the sake of one’s political mileage,” he said.

Putrajaya had recently acceded to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a move that Tunku Ismail claimed was made without consulting the conference of rulers. Putrajaya had since denied the claim.

The Rome Statute governs the International Criminal Court (ICC) which tries four core international crimes, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crime of aggression.

The government however in November last year announced that it will not ratify ICERD.